ARTBA names new public affairs director

Beth McGinn, a political communications veteran of Capitol Hill and several congressional campaigns, has been named director of public affairs at the Washington, D.C.-based American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA).

She replaces Jeff Solsby who left to join the staff of the House Oversight & Government Reform Committee.

McGinn serves as an ARTBA spokesperson and handles all media relations activities. She also manages the association’s award-winning “Transportation Makes America Work” advocacy campaign, which is aimed at building public and political support for significant increases in federal surface transportation investment.

McGinn has more than 10 years of experience. Most recently, she was communications director for the House Judiciary Committee and spent several years as spokesperson for the Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas).

In 2004, she became a legislative director at Direct Impact, a major, D.C.-based grassroots advocacy firm, where she helped various clients build support for state-level legislation and referendums.

McGinn spent the 2002 election cycle as a legislative communications specialist at the National Republican Congressional Committee. She also was deputy spokesperson for the House Government Reform Committee under Rep. Dan Burton (R-Ind.)

McGinn began her career in the fundraising department of the National Association of Homebuilders in 1999.

A native of Florida, McGinn received a B.A. in political science from Rollins College in Orlando. She lives in Arlington, Virginia, with her husband and two daughters.